Blog: TMB Stage 11 Part 1: Refuge La Flégère to Le Brévent

Refuge La Flégère, France, Monday, July 11, 2016.

It was hard to believe we were waking up to the last day on the TMB (Tour du Mont Blanc).  I opened my eyes and looked out the window.  Was this a dream?

We had our last TMB AND France breakfast with our new Scottish acquaintances.  With our bags packed, we said goodbye, going opposite directions.  

The downhill was a nice way to start the day, but knowing the elevation we were climbing to, made us resent the descending trail.  

I walked ahead of my parents, taking photos of our last day along the mountainside.  Eventually, I caught up with an American couple from Philly, Jaime and Michelle, and we ended up hiking to the half-way point on stage 11.  

We ascended along steep switchbacks leading up to Col du Brévent, a pass on a snowy ridge.  I assumed my parents were 30 minutes behind us...

We climbed up through the snow and rocky terrain, almost losing the trail.  A steep climb up a ladder gave us a view of the the cable car station at the highest point as well as a Chamois (alpine goat/antelope) on a distant ridge.  

We made it to the halfway point!  I said farewell to Jaime and Michelle, as they descended the trail leading them to Les Houches, the end of the TMB.  That descent was almost a vertical mile of downhill, which we decided not to hike.  We would be cutting our stage 3 hours short for the sake of our knees-- our poor, poor knees...

The Tullmann stage 11 plan was to get to the highest point, halfway, then take the cable car down to Chamonix.  A simple plan to execute-- as soon as my parents showed up.

I took time to capture the moment while waiting for my parents.

But after 30 minutes, they didn't come.

After an hour, they still didn't show.

I looked down at the snowy path they would be coming up, squinting  and straining to distinguish familiar and unfamiliar hikers below.  But they still didn't come.

Did they get lost?  Did they take the lower cable car down to the city already?  Were they just really slow?  ...or was is something worse?

I started passing out our hiking cards with my mom and dads faces; sending messages down with hikers descending the mountain trail.  I started asking upcoming hikers if they had seen my parents.  None had.

Where were my parents?

What should I do?

The end of a wonderful hike turned dark with oncoming rain clouds and a cold wind began to blow...